As we approach the 3rd anniversary of the day our store opened, we can't help but to feel a little nostalgic. Three and a half years ago, we thought we were going to build a business on our own little nursing covers. Then we decided that selling other people's products might be more up our alley...since we don't actually sew or make patterns!!
We went to SCORE workshops and visited showrooms in LA. We had to beg them to sell to us since we didn't actually have a store yet.
Once we had a few sellable items, we started pitching a tent at the Scripps Ranch Farmer's Market. Then the Del Sur Farmer's Market. Every week. And we hardly sold anything. Ever. It's hard to sell someone a $50 baby dress when they came to the market for an apple.
But we had faith, so we rented a little space in the Scripps Ranch Marketplace. We ordered products and had them sent to our house. They filled the dining room, and we spent night after night tagging them. We knocked down store walls, installed our ugly, ugly slatwall (bad call!), and painted the store in our "beach" colors. We even had our friend spend most of the night one night painting butterflies on the wall. OK, we don't sew, and we don't "see" interior design very well either.
The night before we opened, we took all the inventory to the store and stayed up all night arranging our products in just the right way. And finally, on October 9, 2010, at 10:00 am, we opened the doors for business.
I'm not sure if anyone came that first day. As a matter of fact, there have been a lot of days that nobody has come. This has not been an easy journey by any means, but it's been a great one!
Our family and our staff have endured cancer and divorce and new babies and college applications and good sales and poor sales and every emotion you can imagine as we've tried to juggle our personal lives against building this business.
We've met wonderful, supportive customers who praise and "spread the word" to the friends and neighbors. We've met plenty of "negative Nellies" who cannot be pleased by anything. And a lot of indifferent shoppers that we keep searching for the keys to their hearts. Every one of them has helped us in our journey and taught us something about how to improve ourselves and our store. Thank you for being our customer!
As we head into our fourth year at the Scripps Ranch location, we have a new name on the building, and new merchandisers that have helped the store look amazing! We have fashion shows and fundraisers coming up, and we feel really excited about our future.
We look forward to celebrating the experience of Baby Vie with our customers this week with a big sale, so come on in if you're a Frequent Buyer Club member! You will receive 25% OFF your entire purchase from 10/7/13-10/12/13.
Thank you again for your support!!
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